Rasmussen Reports purports to be a non-biased, scientifically accurate polling company. Their track record in the 2008 election was pretty good. Nate Silver, who I trust more than anyone in this area, considers them to be a professional outfit.
However, in recent months I've noticed an increasing trend with Rasmussen polls: they are asking nonsensical, biased questions that seem designed to evoke a knee-jerk, conservative response. In other words, they seem to be turning into a right-wing push polling outfit aiming not to measure opinion but to mold it.
Exhibit A: This poll published on 3/31:
Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Americans say it is important for the dollar to remain the currency of the United States, including 70% who say it is Very Important.
Only three percent (3%) say it is not at all important if the dollar remains America’s currency, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
China’s top government banker and a United Nations panel have both proposed that the dollar be replaced with a new global currency. However, only 21% of American adults believe the proposal is intended primarily to help the global economy.
The trouble with this, of course, is that nobody has proposed that the dollar be removed as the currency of the United States! Not China, not the UN, not anybody! China and a UN panel have proposed replacing the dollar as the international reserve currency, essentially a medium of exchange. Even that idea isn't going anywhere. But absolutely nobody has suggested eliminating use of the dollar within the US.
So why is Rasmussen doing a pseudo-scientific poll about a proposal that nobody has made? Are they just idiots? Or are they, along with Michelle Bachmann, deliberately trying to spread the idea that the evil socialists now in charge are trying to bring down the almighty dollar?
Exhibit B: This poll from 3/30 which reports:
Americans are closely divided over the economic impact of raising taxes on those who make more than $100,000 per year.
Thirty-five percent (35%) say it would be good for the economy, 37% say it would be bad, and 17% say it would have no impact, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Again, the problem is that nobody is proposing tax increases on everyone making more than $100,000 per year, yet Rasmussen is asking the question as if it's a proposal. The Dems are proposing an increase on those making more than $250,000 per year. Rasmussen found that 51 percent of Americans support that. Yet rather than lead with the actual proposal (which is broadly supported), they lead with a non-existent proposal that is only supported by 35 percent.
Exhibit C: This one from 3/27 frankly takes the cake:
Just one-out-of-seven Americans (14%) would like to see a 90% tax rate on earnings above a million dollars a year. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 74% are opposed to such a high tax rate for the nation’s highest earners.
Agggghhh!! Again, nobody is proposing anything like this. So why is Rasmussen spending money to poll on it?
The common thread in all three of these examples is this: Rasmussen posits a non-existent, extreme policy position and asks for reactions to it. This is a classic push-polling technique, where fake pollsters use the facade of a poll to mold opinion rather than to measure it. Is Scott Rasmussen doing the same thing?